Degrassi: Next Class Season 4 Alternative
by degrassian98
Summary: This is a reimagining/alternative of Degrassi: Next Class written/published before the release of the episodes. Enjoy!
1. S4E1: IFindItFunnyHow

Hi, so this is an alternative Degrassi Next Class Season 4 I have written, pre-release of the actual season 4! Think of each separated part as a scene! Each chapter will be an episode.

 **SEASON 4, EPISODE 1:** #IFindItFunnyHow || Synopsis: Maya returns to Degrassi but quickly finds that her suicide attempt did not go unnoticed. After Zig finds out about Saad's involvement in Maya's breakdown, he makes it a mission to destroy him, but Esme tries to hold him back. Zoe decides to look for a new school president to take over once she graduates, but overlooks the obvious choice: Rasha.

* * *

 **Maya** woke up in a cold sweat. She'd had another nightmare. Every night since she woke up in the hospital after her overdose, she'd had a horrible, graphic dream about dying. A different method every night. At first, it was simple things, like overdosing again or dying in another bus crash. But over the past two weeks, they'd gotten more morbid. More real. Like the tragic videos she'd watched online just a few weeks before she was at the brink of death.

The suicide attempt had terrified her. Being at the edge of death had scared her into submission to say the least. Although death was still all she thought about. But that was because it was all she ever got to talk about.

Every minute of every day, Katie and her mom were hounding her asking her how she felt. If she needed any water, if they should take all of the Tylenol out of the house so Maya wouldn't be triggered or try to kill herself again... She knew they meant well, but she couldn't take it any longer.

The first day back to school was today, and as much as she didn't want everyone staring at her with pity-eyes, she needed to get out of the house before she went insane. Again.

Her fingers traced over a neon pink sweater in her closet. That was too old Maya. They met a black sweatshirt next. Too last semester Maya. Her Degrassi uniform from grade 9 touched her finger tips next. That was a whole different lifetime ago.

She needed to find something that showed who the new and improved post-suicide-attempt Maya was going to be. It was hard to figure out what to wear since she hadn't quite pinned that persona.

Suicide attempt survivor. That was who she was now. And who she'd be for the rest of her life. It would at least be a piece of who she'd be forever.

She was so many things. The girl who almost killed herself, Zig's ex, Miles's ex, the girl whose boyfriend had killed himself... And before Cam, she was nothing but Katie's little sister. The cello girl. It was crazy many times she'd shed her skin in her short seventeen years on earth. It was also crazy that there was more to come. So much more. She'd probably graduate from Degrassi, and go to college... Have a family. A husband. A full life. Things she'd decided she'd never do just a few short weeks earlier, when she'd decided to end her life.

She settled on a midnight blue swing dress and a mustard yellow corduroy cropped jacket. A little bit of perky Maya with a twist of dark Maya. The mustard yellow was an accidental but not un-noticed piece of freshman year Maya. Before everything went to hell.

It wasn't too unsettling of a change from last semester's Maya, but just enough a change that she felt different. She slipped on a pair of mustard yellow ankle boots and pulled her hair into a tight bun. Looking in the mirror, she managed a slight smile. She knew that this first day was going to be hell, but at least she was going to get some fresh air.

"Maya?" Maya's mother called. "Have you done your journal entry this morning?" Maya exhaled deeply. The journal had become a bit of a sore subject. She was supposed to write in it every morning about how she felt and how she thought she was progressing. The first few days when she was being kept at the hospital were fruitful, but she was sixteen days post-suicide attempt and had began to run out of words. There's only so many times you can say you're surprised you're alive before it starts feeling stale.

She picked up the journal and flipped through it. The name 'Cam' was on almost every single page. As was 'Zig', to a lesser extent. Thinking about the two people who had impacted her life the most who were no longer in her life was too much for her this early in the morning. She picked up a pen and opened to a blank page. 'I feel fine.' She wrote and then promptly shut the journal. She knew her mother snuck and checked the journal periodically, but in order to call Maya out on slacking, she'd have to admit she was snooping. And Maya was pretty damn sure her mother wouldn't do that.

"Yes, all done!" Maya called back to her mom in the most fake peppy voice she could muster, before shoving the journal into her backpack and leaving her bedroom. Time to face the real world once again. The real world of high school, anyway.

* * *

 **Zoe** read over the speech written for her, preparing to address the school in the semester's first assembly. Usually, she'd just ad-lib it, but apparently there was news that needed to be stated sensitively. Zoe's reputation for a lack of sensitivity over the years had caused Principal Simpson to take control. Apparently he needed to ensure that the message going out would be said the way he wanted it to be said.

She looked out into the crowd and saw so many friendly faces. Her gaze stopped, though, on Rasha. Beautiful, fantastic Rasha. The tiny girl was giggling along with Grace and Jonah in the front row.

Jonah had become somewhat of a friend to Zoe over the last two weeks or so. He and Grace had started some sort of love connection. And since Zoe and Grace were in tight living quarters at the Cardinal house, Zoe had no choice but to get to know him. There were things about Jonah she didn't approve of, as always, but as long as Grace was happy, that was what mattered. Part of her still loved Grace, but loving Rasha who loved her back was a much better feeling.

Zoe had never felt so lucky in her life. Everyone around her got along. She had friends. Friends who weren't there out of fear or obligation. And she had a girlfriend. A girlfriend who liked her back. Maybe even loved her. The drama that had taken over her life in the past four years or so didn't matter anymore. The girl who played Gatsby Garcia and got kicked off of The West Drive Experience for having a pill popping issue was gone. The girl who schemed and hurt the people around her, played games, and caused trouble for trouble's sake didn't exist anymore. She'd found herself. Her true, happy self. She took the podium and flashed a presidential grin at the crowd.

"Good morning, Degrassians. And welcome to the 2017 spring semester at Degrassi Community School. I'm Zoe Rivas, the class president, for anyone who may be new. is , my vice, and Winston Chu, our third in command." She gestured over to Winston and Goldi, who were seated on the stage behind her. "We have a great semester with tons of exciting opportunities and events ahead of us. So get excited and don't forget... Get involved!" She paused, allowing the crowd to cheer as they always did when events were mentioned. Apparently the concept of dances and parties never got old to Degrassi students. Teens were easy to please.

"There is a new addition to our staff, because of events taking place last semester. I'm pleased to introduce everybody to our school therapist, Ms. Halliwell, who will be on call and available for anybody who needs to talk." Zoe paused, her eyes wandering to someone who had just entered the room. Maya. She felt guilty as she continued, knowing that Maya was going to be uncomfortable with the development caused by her suicide attempt. "Ms. Halliwell is a licensed psychiatrist who specializes in adolescent psychology, which means that she's an expert in all things teen." She looked at the perplexed looks in the crowd at the weird phrasing. "Blame Principal Simpson for the cheesy speech, guys." She pointed at the principal light-heartedly and received a smile back. Just a couple of years ago she was in Simpson's office receiving glares and warnings, and now all she was getting was smiles. There was no way to describe how proud Zoe was of herself for the way she had grown and matured.

* * *

 **Maya** had walked into the assembly at the worst time. Zoe, who she still hadn't found room in her heart to forgive, was announcing the arrival of a school therapist. Due to 'events taking place last semester', which Maya knew was referring to her.

Everyone turned their heads. Well, not everyone, but it sure felt that way. Entering late was one way to grab everyone's attention, but when you were the girl who almost killed herself during the school musical, people tended to stare a few seconds longer. Everyone she knew and people she didn't were all making the same pitiful look toward her. Everyone but Esme, who had her eyes glued to Zig, watching as he looked at Maya with worry in his eyes. Maya knew that there was going to be drama with Esme. There always was. But she wasn't going to deal with it today. She truly just didn't have it in her.

She'd heard that Esme was the one who found her. Esme and Zig. Of course, she didn't remember this because she was a little too busy almost dying, but she wondered if she should thank Esme. From the look on Esme's face however, something was telling Maya she wasn't interested in hearing a word Maya had to say.

Zoe was wrapping up the assembly, so Maya was getting out of there before she was trampled by well-meaning acquaintances. Just as quickly as she entered, she exited and headed toward the front doors of the school. There was nowhere to go, but she just didn't want to be there.

* * *

 **Grace** wrapped her arms around Jonah as students filed out of the assembly. "See you after class." She said, and waved to Jonah as he walked away. The two of them were keeping things on the down-low for now. So escorts to class were sort of out of the question until they figured out how to break the news without causing Frankie to have a meltdown of epic proportions. Before she had a chance to begin her trek to first period, Zig had appeared out of nowhere in front of her.

"Is Maya okay?" Zig questioned, as if Grace had much more intel than he did.

"I wouldn't know. She's been kind of quarantined from the world. Healing process. And I've been busy with..." Her voice trailed off, knowing that Jonah's existence was a bit of a sore subject for Zig, and knowing that she wasn't exactly allowed to publicly brag about her new beau.

Zig shook his head. "Jonah. I know. It was only a matter of time once you two started working on the play together. Congrats." He actually sounded genuine. Grace wasn't expecting Zig to be so cool, when just a semester earlier Jonah Haak was public enemy number one and the reason his relationship with Maya had crashed and burned.

Grace and Zig's conversation was interrupted when someone was shoved into the two of them. "Muslim freak!" A familiar voice, Hunter Hollingsworth, shouted as he shoved a skinny boy into the middle of the conversation. It was Saad. The guy who had encouraged Maya's breakdown. The guy who took those disgusting death photos of Maya. Those photos had haunted Grace. She had spent the nights after Maya's suicide attempt just staring at those photos, imagining what would've happened if Maya hadn't pulled through.

Grace and Saad's eyes met one another and Saad bolted before Grace could say anything. "What's the damage there?" Zig questioned immediately, sensing that something had clearly gone wrong between the two. Apparently Zig really was caught up in Esme's web. He didn't recognize the guy who had been by Maya's side for the entirety of last semester. Zig had always been Maya's number one stalker practically since Grace had met the two, so his lapse in knowledge was surprising.

Grace's hands reached into her pocket and she pulled out her phone, showing Zig the photos. His eyes widened when his eyes laid on the photos of his ex girlfriend lying on the concrete with blood covering her face.

"I'm gonna kill him." Zig was fuming. "I'm gonna really kill him."

Grace's hands reached to touch Zig's shoulder and hold him back, but there was nothing she could do to hold back the barreling teenager. He was much stronger than her, clearly, and he was on a mission. He disappeared into the crowd of students exiting the assembly in pursuit of Saad, and nobody, not even Grace, couldn't stop him.

* * *

 **Zoe** 's lips met Rasha's excitedly. Her life was almost perfect. Other than the whole situation with her mom kicking her out, she had nothing to complain about. And even the situation with her mom was far from her mind at this point. There was nothing she could do to change her mom being homophobic, and stressing about it day after day was just going to give her wrinkles.

After the assembly, Simpson had even notified her she was a top contender for valedictorian. It was between her and Tiny Bell. Tiny may've had the smarts, but Zoe was the school president and a bit of a figurehead. If it came down to it, she figured she had the vote. All she had to do was make it through the rest of the semester without any drama, and she'd be speaking at graduation.

"So, who is going to be taking your place as school president once you abandon me?" Rasha questioned, placing a dramatic tone on the mention of abandonment.

Zoe found herself bewildered. She hadn't even really thought about that. She wasn't originally supposed to be president anyway. She'd taken over after Tristan's accident and since Tristan hadn't recovered, it'd just became her thing. And she was good at it. Better than she'd ever imagined. The more she thought about it, the less she wanted to give up being in charge like this. After acting, it had been so hard to find her thing. She had tried cheerleading; she'd tried being queen bee... But this was the best of both worlds. She was in control without everyone hating her guts. Would she be able to find something like that after high school?

"I hadn't thought about it." Zoe admitted. "I guess I should look around. Hold interviews during lunch or something."

Most of the time Rasha was easy to read. She wore her emotions on her sleeve. But occasionally, Zoe was left stumped. And this was one of those times. Rasha's lips pursed and her eyebrows raised. "You're right. I guess you should look around." She paused. "See who pops up."

* * *

 **Zig** was on his way to pound Saad beyond recognition. Saad was at fault. He was the reason Maya had gotten to that point. Him and his stupid beliefs, his stupid camera and his stupid, stupid face. Zig should've been watching. He shouldn't have allowed himself to get so caught up in Esme, so caught up in forgetting about Maya, and so caught up in having fun instead of pursuing what actually mattered to him. There was nothing about Esme that was good enough to neglect the girl that just a year ago he'd planned on marrying one day.

Saad was leaning up against a locker staring at his camera. "Take any suicide pictures lately?" Zig started, bringing his body close to Saad's. "Cause any girls to overdose, maybe? Ruin any lives?"

He knew he was coming on strong. But he didn't care. That was the approach that was going to scare the crap out of Saad. And that's what he wanted. Maya almost lost her life. Sweet, innocent Maya. The girl who he'd met on the first day of freshman year and fallen for almost immediately. He tried denying it for a while, but Maya was always the one he wanted. He knew she was different from the moment he bumped into her in the hall. The way she willingly went with his scheme, the way she was so different than Tori, or any other girl he'd encountered since. She was the one he cared about more than anyone. Through all of the drama they'd gone through, Maya was the one who truly mattered.

"What are you talking about?" Saad responded in his deeply accented voice. He had to know what Zig was talking about. He knew there was no way that Saad didn't know he was partly responsible for Maya's suicide attempt. Zig noticed a split in Saad's lip. It seemed many people have problems with the new kid. No surprise there.

Zig replied by slamming his hand into the locker next to Saad. "How dare you? You know what you did!"

The scrawny boy blinked as Zig's temper rose.

"You took those photos of Maya. You isolated her from her friends. You encouraged her to fantasize about death. How dare you?" Zig had lost control of his volume. Everyone was watching the two. He didn't care, though. People had the right to know what a piece of crap this Saad kid was. They deserved to know why the girl who had done no wrong to anyone suddenly disappeared into a dark cloud of depression and almost died on the roof.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Saad spoke, shrinking to try to get away from Zig, who had him cornered. "I didn't do anything. I was just trying to be her friend. We were just trying to show that...that death is beautiful. That we shouldn't fear it."

That was the moment Zig's fist connected with Saad's jaw. And it felt good. It felt so good. It was exactly the medicine that he needed. He was lost in his own world, getting ready to connect his fist with Saad's face once again when he felt a hand pulling him away.

"What are you doing?!" A voice exclaimed. A familiar one. Esme. "Back off of him, Zig!" Zig backed off to look at Esme, and by the time he turned back to continue his attack on Saad, the skinny boy had slithered away and was halfway down the hallway. Everyone still had their eyes on Zig.

Esme grabbed the fist Zig had just used to bruise Saad's face. "You can't do that here. You can't just attack someone." She seemed to have forgotten that just last semester she'd verbally attacked Zig for calling her easy. Zig hated how hypocritical Esme Song could be. He'd only gotten with her because she was a professional distractor. Sex, drinking, partying... She was a pro. And that's what he thought he needed in order to get over Maya. But it was never enough.

"I had him!" Zig exclaimed in response, and Esme pulled him into an empty classroom away from the crowd that had accumulated to watch the scene. "Why did you do that? I had him right there."

A tone Zig had never quite heard before came from Esme. She sounded... concerned. Like she really cared about him. "Because. Beating some rando to a pulp isn't going to solve anything. Saad didn't cause Maya to overdose. Maya's brain caused it. Maya caused it. Suicide isn't that black and white. I should know." She paused, tears welling in her eyes. "It took me years to learn. It's not anyone's fault. If Maya really wanted to die, she was going to try whether Saad took some photos or not."

"Because you're an expert, right?" Zig shot back. His temper was still overflowing. He hadn't gotten to take out everything he wanted to take out on Saad because of Esme. He had zero control over what was coming out of his mouth.

"I guess I am. And you're an expert at being an ass." Esme said, the caring tone had melted away. She shoved him back and stormed off.

* * *

 **Maya** found herself outside of the school. The first classes had just started, but she didn't have it in her to go inside. If anyone was getting a free pass for skipping class, Maya assumed she was probably golden. After all, she was the suicide girl who caused there to be a school therapist.

Maybe, Maya thought, this should've happened when Cam died. Sure, there were therapists around for a couple months, but once the hype died down and the memorials took place, they moved elsewhere. Nobody cared about the mental health of the students once Cam's death became a memory. She wondered if staying in therapy would've helped this. Or maybe even prevented this.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Saad stormed out of the school with a freshly bruised jaw. She shot up from where she was sitting. The two hadn't talked since the night of her suicide attempt when she apparently talked to him in a drug-induced haze. She figured it was probably best to never contact him again. After all, he'd seen her at her worst. He knew every dark detail. She could never truly feel comfortable around someone who knew how dark her mind could get.

But she couldn't help herself. Saad was the one person she could talk to last semester. It wasn't so easy to break these habits. It'd taken her months to get used to not talking to Zig every day... She approached Saad without much thought.

"What happened? Are you okay?" She asked, but Saad ignored her. "Please, Saad. What happened? You can talk to me. I know I disappeared, but something is wrong..." Maya followed him as he stomped away from the steps in front of the school and toward the parking lot. He wasn't going to stop, so she reached her fingers out to meet his shoulder. That was when he finally turned around. "Ever since I got here, I have heard backhanded comments and straight out insults about my religion. I've been getting tortured non-stop. And now I'm getting blamed because you decided to try to kill yourself. I didn't know. I wasn't encouraging you. I just wanted to be there for you." Maya noticed a break in Saad's voice. It was really getting to him. "And then your ex-boyfriend comes out of nowhere and attacks me. Blaming me. Calling me awful names. I did nothing to you."

Maya stopped in her tracks. "Wait, Zig?" Saad nodded, confirming. This caused a lot of confusion. Zig hadn't visited her in the hospital once, and from what she saw last semester, he was all Esme all the time now. Why would he beat up someone for her?

It sounded like Zig, though. He always resorted to the biggest possible reaction, when most of the time it was completely or at least partially misguided or unnecessary. This sounded like just the thing Zig would've done. Before last semester, though. Before everything changed and they went from being attached at the hip to complete strangers. Zig and Maya were no longer an entity. No longer were they Degrassi's cutest couple, or anything of the sort. They weren't Zig and Maya. They were Zig... and Maya.

She looked to Saad's bruised face and then back at the front steps of the school. Before thinking, her lips met Saad's freshly bruised jaw. "I'm so sorry. I swear I'll make it better. All of it. Somehow."

* * *

 **Zoe** had interviewed three candidates during lunch. The first was Vijay, the kid who had dated Tristan for two seconds and outed Zoe. Pass. The second was Goldi's little brother Baaz, who spent the entire interview talking about how being school president would finally land him a hot girlfriend...pass. The girl with the red wig, Yael, had some promising ideas, but the friends she surrounded herself with made Zoe concerned that she'd be a little too influenced by her loser friends and might not lead Degrassi to the best of her ability. Not an official pass, but Zoe just wasn't feeling it.

She wished so deeply that Goldi was a junior. Goldi honestly deserved to take over after Tristan, but Zoe got thrust into the role and didn't say no. And she didn't regret agreeing to the position. It was one of the best things that ever happened to her. But trying to find a successor was taking years off of her life.

"I know I'm supposed to just let go and just let the election happen next year once I'm gone, but I don't trust these underclassmen. I've worked so hard to make Degrassi great, and I just can't find the person who is going to uphold my legacy." Zoe spoke to Rasha, who was accompanying her to her final class of the day, French, which they happened to share.

"Your _legacy_?" Rasha teased, interlocking her fingers with Zoe's.

"You know what I mean." Zoe said, shutting her locker and slinging her purse onto her shoulder. Her hand found Rasha's and a jolt went through her body. Public displays of affection were new between the two, since they'd been keeping things secret due to Rasha's concerns about Goldi finding out. But it was exciting for them to be out as a couple. New and exciting.

Rasha sighed before biting her bottom lip. "There's tons of people you haven't even talked to about this yet, you know that, right? You only interviewed _three_ people today. Those three people don't define the search. You've got _weeks_."

Zoe paused, then realized that Rasha was right. She was right to stress, but maybe she was wrong to stress _so much_. There was hundreds of students in the school. The three people she'd interviewed weren't an accurate representation of everyone who might be interested in student government. Plus she had the whole semester to figure it out. What was the rush? She flashed a smile in Rasha's direction before pulling her girlfriend in close.

"How did I get so lucky? You're the best." The girls stood in front of the French classroom, foreheads touching and lips only inches apart. "And you're right. I'll find that person. And when I find them, I'll know it's right." She said, before planting a kiss on Rasha's forehead, and then on her lips. Rasha smiled, and Zoe let go of her hand and headed into the classroom.

A moment passed, and Rasha seemed lost in thought, standing in the doorway. "Come on, mon amour. Before we lose the chance to be partners." Zoe teased, and Rasha snapped back into it and followed her girlfriend to their seats.


	2. S4E2: RealTalk

Hi, so this is an alternative Degrassi Next Class Season 4 I have written, pre-release of the actual season 4! Think of each separated part as a scene! Each chapter will be an episode.

 **SEASON 4, EPISODE 2:** #RealTalk || Synopsis: After setting a date for her lung transplant, reality begins to set in for Grace. Miles begins to feel suffocated when he realizes he's missing important opportunities in order to take care of Tristan. Lola's mom reappears in her life after seeing Lola's viral abortion video.

* * *

 **Miles** smiled sincerely as he helped Tristan button his shirt. "It's too bad you missed day one, but I'm so glad your doctor cleared you to officially come back to Degrassi." His voice was full of hope and enthusiasm. Everything was finally going to go back to normal. Tristan was back to Degrassi, and they could just be normal again. Like last semester was just a bad dream. The mess with Lola was behind him, and so was the bus crash. Sooner rather than later, Miles and Tristan were going to go back to being normal teenagers. Or, whatever the redefinition of normal was for a disabled boy and his boyfriend.

"I know." Tristan said slowly in response. He was still pretty limited in his speech, and he wasn't out of the motorized chair yet, but he was above and beyond the condition he was in when he came to the play. Any progress was acceptable to Miles. It gave him hope. Which is just what he needed.

Miles's phone beeped, letting him know he had received an email. Before he could pull his phone out to check it, Tristan called out, asking if Miles could get him a glass of water to take his morning pills. Miles silenced his phone and obliged, pulling a glass from a shelf that was too high for Tristan to reach and filling it with tap water. Normally, Tristan would protest drinking tap water. But that was one of the few perks, for lack of a better word, of the tragedy they'd experienced. It made Tristan less high maintenance, and made the two boys appreciate one another and every moment together a lot more.

"Can you grab my pain meds from the bathroom? I was supposed to take them when I woke up but I forgot." Tristan asked, and Miles nodded, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he walked toward the bathroom. Tristan didn't like for Miles to use his phone too much around him. Something about cherishing their time together. But Miles figured since he wasn't in the same room as Tristan he could quickly check whatever email he'd just received.

As he opened the bathroom door, the email he'd received popped up on his screen. It was Mr. Mitchell, his English teacher and sort-of mentor letting him know that he'd missed the deadline for applying to a coveted creative writing internship in New York. It was the only thing on his mind for weeks when he'd first heard of it, and he'd had months to finish his application, but life got in the way. If he was being honest, Tristan got in the way.

He tried not to be mad. He tried not to cry. Tristan didn't get in a bus crash and barely make it out alive on purpose. It was Miles's own fault for getting so caught up in sitting by Tristan's bedside, and then hopping into bed with Lola while he could've been focusing on his future. He tried so hard not to be mad. But a part of him just couldn't help it. He'd messed up a great opportunity, as he always did, because he was too caught up in other stuff.

His now-shaky fingers traced the edges of the prescription bottles in the cabinet, looking for the prescription Tristan had asked for. Tristan's mom had just picked up a new pain medication prescription, so the old bottle was only a few pills away from being empty. He knew he shouldn't, but he pocketed the last handful of pills and threw the old bottle away before grabbing the new bottle and bringing it into the kitchen where Tristan awaited. Miles told himself that he wouldn't do anything with the pills, he couldn't revert back to his old habit, but at least he knew he had an option to cope if anything else went wrong, right?

* * *

 **Grace** shifted uncomfortably in a paper gown. Yet another examination. Another evaluation, to make sure that she was a viable candidate for a lung transplant. She'd been told months ago that she was the perfect patient for the surgery, yet they still had to evaluate her again and again. She understood why, but the more she sat in doctor's offices getting her sucky lungs looked at, the more she wanted to bolt for the hills.

If she was being honest, the procedure scared the living crap out of her. It'd scare anyone. But who was she if she didn't try to save her own life? Plus, now she felt like she had something to live for. Her life wasn't about longing for Zig and being jealous of Maya anymore. It wasn't about faking gay with Zoe or being the eyes and ears of Degrassi. She was a best friend. A secret girlfriend. She had Maya to worry about. And Zoe. She had so much in her life, and so many interpersonal relationships she never thought she'd had. And honestly? The last thing she wanted was to die before she got to see the people close to her thrive.

"Alright, Grace. You're good to go. You still look like a viable candidate. Now if you want to step into my office and talk about setting a date..." The doctor trailed off, gauging Grace's reaction. She hadn't realized they'd be setting a date so soon, and the doctor knew that.

"A date?" Grace sputtered, looking at her mother, who also looked quite concerned and surprised. Usually, it'd be months before they even considered setting a date. There was all types of waiting lists and pre-surgery things that Grace had read about.

"Yes, a date." The doctor responded, leading the Cardinal women into his office. "You're a very special case, Grace. We want to get you in as soon as possible to ensure the best output."

So, Grace had some sort of super CF? She sharply exhaled, wondering how soon the date could possibly be. A year? Six months? She'd read every blog and medical journal available on the web about the pre-procedure crap CF sufferers had to go through before a date was set. Doctors _say_ soon, but they usually mean months or even years. Some people even die before they get the lung transplant they need.

"The soonest date we can get you in is June 20th. You'll be done with school by then, correct?" The doctor spoke, bringing Grace out of her own head.

Grace's heart nearly stopped. That was two days after graduation. Two days after she finished the biggest milestone she'd experienced yet. A date she thought she might not even get to during her worst lung infections. She weighed her options silently before looking to her mother. Her mother had her hand cupped over her mouth, clearly quite fearful of the thought of her daughter going through such life-threatening surgery so soon.

"I'll do it." Grace said decidedly, much to the surprise of her doctor and her mother.

"The date is set, then." The doctor replied.

* * *

 **Miles** pleaded with Mr. Mitchell. It was the only thing he could think to do. "Is there any exception that can be made? I mean, I can tell them about Tristan. I can tell them how busy I've been. They'll understand, won't they?"

Mr. Mitchell's lips pursed. "No. I'm sorry. It wouldn't be fair for me to make excuses for you. Not to mention the company that hosts the internship doesn't have a reputation for caring about peoples' personal lives. It's about how good you'll be as an intern. Not how crazy your life is." He paused, seemingly thinking before he continued. "Miles, everyone has things going on in their lives. Everyone experiences hard times. Life doesn't pause just because you're taking care of your boyfriend."

"Hard times? My boyfriend almost died!" Miles raised his voice. His eyes darted to the hallway where Tristan was waiting and reminded himself to quiet down. He didn't want Tristan to know anything was wrong. He didn't want Tristan to think any of this was his fault. But his anxiety was bubbling over. He was losing control. If he didn't get this internship, he didn't know what he was going to do. He was going to have to fall back and rely on his father to help him, which was the last thing he wanted in the world. "So I'm just _screwed_?" Miles added, his tone full of anger and resentment. He _knew_ it wasn't Mr. Mitchell's fault. It was nobody's fault but his own. But something in him felt like taking it out on someone. And the only other person he could take it out on would be Tristan, which he knew wouldn't be appropriate at all.

Mr. Mitchell spoke matter-of-factly, not letting Miles's aggressive tone get under his skin. "If that's the word you want to use for it." It seemed the more Mr. Mitchell got to know Miles, the better he got at handling his outbursts. If only Miles had a father who was as patient as Mr. Mitchell. "There are still plenty of opportunities out there. Yes, that was the best one, but... with the distractions you've had in your life and your behavior issues in the past few months... I don't know if you'd have been the best choice anyway."

Miles was offended. Deeply offended. "So you're saying I'm not a good writer anymore?"

"I'm saying you're distracted. You haven't turned in an assignment on time since the bus crash, and once you finally turn things in, they're... sub-par. I know you have a lot going on, and that's fine. But colleges and jobs are going to expect someone who is capable of multi-tasking. And as of late... You aren't. I'm sorry Miles. You're a good kid and a capable writer. But life getting in the way got in the way this time."

Everything seemed to fade away for Miles. His brain went blank. He couldn't think or function or catch his breath. "I have to go." He said, his voice pained and heavy. "I have to go now, I'm sorry." He looked at Mr. Mitchell once more before bolting out of the room. Past Tristan, who was engrossed in a conversation with Zoe, past everyone who had curiously piled up to listen to his conversation with Mr. Mitchell when they heard the volume raised, and straight into the bathroom.

He didn't know what to do. Splash his face with water, maybe? He tried it, but his entire being was still shrouded in anxiety. He had to do something to make the racing thoughts stop. Anything, just anything to make him relax. His fingers instinctively reached into his pocket where he'd placed Tristan's extra pills. He knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't take feeling like this any longer. He felt like he was going to explode. Miles cupped his hands in the water running from the bathroom sink and swallowed four pills.

* * *

 **Lola** reached into her bag during class cautiously. She'd gotten chewed out a million times for texting during class, and another warning would probably get her sent to Simpson. But her phone was absolutely _blowing up_. She needed to know what was up. Her mind was just racing thinking of the possibilities. Whether it was some breaking gossip item or maybe Miles finally getting back to her... They hadn't talked since the whole abortion situation. She wanted to know now. And she was far too impatient to wait until the bell rang.

Her eyes scanned the screen. Ten missed calls and fourteen texts. Who was blowing up her phone in the middle of the school day? It was a number she didn't recognize, which usually didn't mean much, since she gave out her number to every stranger she bonded with, whether it was the pretty girl who complimented her in the washroom or the hilarious guy who did her makeup at the mall kiosk.

"Lola?" Mr. Perino called her out, reaching his hand out so she'd hand her phone over. "I hope whatever that text was is worth a stay in detention after school today."

She sighed, handing her phone to the teacher. "Yeah, I hope so..." Her mind started to wander... Who needed her so badly?

* * *

 **Miles** couldn't focus. His eyes blinked rapidly and his teeth chattered slightly. He knew that taking those pills was a mistake, but the calming feeling that was slowly setting in was dulling those thoughts. He'd ditched Tristan in the hall, and by the time he'd gotten back, the bell had rang and Tristan had disappeared, assumedly being escorted to class by someone else. So he just went to class alone.

"Hey, Hollingsworth." Esme's voice came out of nowhere, and it took a moment for Miles to recognize the direction it was coming from. He turned and looked at her, observing the details in her face.

Why was Esme even talking to him? They'd had quite a rough patch the last semester, including Miles being incredibly insensitive. They came together after Maya's suicide attempt, but he didn't figure that made them all best friends again.

"Woah, you look..." She paused. Out of everyone, Esme would recognize Miles under the influence of pills. After all, she was the reason he got introduced to the addiction. "Are you on something?" She questioned.

He shook his head, but the world around him felt blurry. Like everything was in slow motion. Even Esme.

"You're on something. Come on. Let's go. You can't be in class right now." She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the desk. They were lucky that the teacher was running late and they had the opportunity to skip out on class. Miles hadn't quite consented to being yanked out of class by his ex-friends with benefits, but he wasn't really in a state to say no. The drugs were hitting him pretty hard. Apparently relapse highs were pretty damn strong.

The two snuck out of the school undetected, which was pretty unusual this early in the semester. They found themselves on the same picnic table where Esme had handed Miles his first pills. The 'happy pills' that started his addiction. Admittedly, it felt better to be on those happy pills than it did to be on heavy-duty painkillers, but anything to dull his anxiety and pain would do the trick. And Tristan's meds were definitely pulling through in that department.

"So, what are you on?" Esme questioned. Her voice was so slow and calming to Miles.

"Whatever Tris is taking." Miles responded. He couldn't stop himself from talking to Esme in this state. Usually, he'd ignore her like the plague. She was Zig's problem now. And she'd caused so much crap in his life before... Maybe it was the drugs that made him feel drawn to Esme. He wasn't quite sure.

"Tristan is in serious physical therapy after being in a _coma_." Esme said in a preachy tone. As if she was so much better than Miles. He knew she was a constant disaster, and as far as he knew, she never stopped taking those happy pills.

"And?" Miles responded in a slurry voice. Obviously those meds were working. Hardcore.

Esme's eyes rolled to the back of her head. She always did that. She always rolled her eyes as if she was some superior being who knew everything, when truthfully, everyone knew she was the one who really didn't have anything figured out. "And you probably took way too much. You're totally out of it." Her fingers touched Miles's chin softly. She stared into his eyes. "Your pupils are ridiculously dilated. You need to go home. Come on." She pulled him up from the picnic table.

"No, I need to take care of Tristan." Miles responded, wondering how the hell he was going to explain this to his boyfriend. Tristan's first day back and Miles was going home early with Esme as an escort.

"You're not going to be any help to Tristan in this condition. Those pills are about to hit you to the fullest extent, and you're definitely not gonna be able to fake sober. Do you really want Tris to know his savior boyfriend relapsed and stole his meds? I think no. So take my hand. I'll drive you home. No funny business, I swear."

* * *

 **Lola** waited impatiently after class for Perino to return her phone to her custody. She had no patience for this. It seemed every single student had to stop at his desk and talk about some mundane, stupid, unimportant topic. She always rushed out of class as soon as the bell rang, so she had no idea so many students were so interested in talking to Perino. She surely wasn't.

The crowd of students slowly filed out and left just the teacher and her in the classroom. "Please, phone?" Lola begged, and Perino obliged. It was clear he didn't really want to hand her phone back, but at this point Lola didn't care. There was something pressing going on inside of her cell, and her curiosity was about to make her little body explode.

Her fingers wrapped around her phone, a position her hands were definitely familiar with. More texts and calls had poured in during the rest of the class session. Who the hell was this?

Every text had terminology relating to urgency, so obviously this was something she had to pursue. She pressed dial and held the phone to her ear, waiting for whatever drama was on the other end.

* * *

 **Grace** approached Jonah with apprehension. She had to break the news to her new beau that two days after they graduated, she was heading into surgery that might just cost her life. Sure, she knew he'd be supportive since he was the one who basically forced her to come to terms with the fact that she wanted to take a chance on a lung transplant, but still... There was something about telling the dude you'd only been dating a couple weeks that he better buckle up because she could be dying super soon that seemed intense to her.

"So, I got some news at the doc." Strong start, Grace. "We kinda set a date for the transplant."

Jonah's face lit up with excitement. "Holy crap, Grace! Congratulations!" He brought her into a hug, a reaction she wasn't quite expecting since they were supposed to be keeping things quiet for the time being. "I'm so proud of you. When should I grab the 'Get Well Soon' balloons?"

Grace's heart melted at the fact that Jonah was so supportive. She never thought she'd have that. She saw this sort of support in relationships around her, but due to her expiration date, she never thought it'd be hers. The fact that Jonah was so excited and supportive, however, made her even more apprehensive to tell him that the procedure was coming up on their heels.

"Uh, two days after graduation?" She blurted out before shoving her hands into her pockets.

"That's...soon." He responded. Freaked out. Of course.

"I know. But... I'll make it through, right? Whatever it takes." Grace reassured him, and honestly, reassured herself. Or at least tried to.

Jonah pasted a smile onto his face. Grace knew that it wasn't fully genuine. She'd seen that smile in the end stages of Jonah's relationship with Frankie. It was his way of showing that he was trying to be okay with whatever the hell was happening with him. And Grace didn't want to be a repeat of Frankie. She didn't want their relationship to dissolve so quickly over something like this.

"The doctor seemed hopeful." Grace brought her body closer to Jonah's. She needed something, a little extra... oomph... to make this news less of a harsh blow. Her fingers teased Jonah's arm lightly. She knew she wasn't supposed to be publicly displaying affection, but who was looking, really? "It'll be okay."

Jonah cracked a genuine smile this time as Grace's fingers teased his arm lightly. He was extremely ticklish, after all. The slightest touch sent him into giggle mode. "You're right. Let's be hopeful." His eyes were glued to Grace's, and the eye contact they were making made Grace feel like they were the only two on earth. It was so intense, and so right. For once in her life, she really truly felt hope. She wanted to live. She wanted to continue to see Jonah and her friends. Before this, she'd accepted that death was one lung infection away. Right around the next corner.

Their eye contact prolonged a little longer than most would be comfortable, but it ended abruptly when Jonah noticed something in the corner of his eye. More specifically, someone. Frankie Hollingsworth had stumbled across the two and was making a face that even made Grace feel bad. Before either of them could pull away or say something to hide the fact that they were totally on the verge of making out in the middle of the hall, Frankie fled the scene.

"And that's why I wanted to keep things on the down low." Jonah said defeatedly. A pang hit Grace's chest hard. She knew she had no reason to be jealous of Frankie. She'd completely screwed with Jonah's feelings, and she was too immature for him. But Jonah still cared what she thought and was trying to be sensitive to her feelings. And that was enough to spark a little jealousy, even in Grace.

* * *

 **Lola** heard a familiar voice pick up.

"Lo?"

It was her mother. The mom who had up and disappeared years ago. The root of her abandonment issues. The reason she was afraid to be alone. Shocked, she pressed 'end call'. Why was her mom reaching out to her now of all times?

Admittedly, she could use a mother figure now, after all of the Miles drama and everything. But her mother wasn't going to be that mother figure. Not after just up and heading out of town without a word. Lola had to go through some of her most difficult years with just her dad around. That wasn't fair.

Her phone rang again, and stupidly, she couldn't resist answering.

"What do you want?" She spat in her most venomous voice. "You dip out of town for years and then you blow up my phone? You can't just do that." She felt tears well up in her eyes. Her mom's abandonment was the root of almost all of her emotional problems and turmoil. Her mom was the reason she couldn't have a normal relationship. It was all her mom.

"I saw your video." Her mom spoke, emotionless. After all of these years, she wasn't even going to show any emotion in her tone? Typical.

"I post a lot of videos." Lola responded, though a voice in the back of her head told her that the video her mother was referring to probably wasn't ' _Bra Stuffing 101_ ' or 'H _ow To Dye Your Hair Blue Without Staining Your Hands_ '. "You gotta be more specific, _Nadia_." She knew it'd sting her mother to refer to her by her first name, but that was the point.

Her mother's tone quickly changed from emotionless to impatient. "The abortion video, Lola. You really think that wouldn't get around to me eventually? It went _viral_."

"I wasn't really thinking of you when I posted it, honestly." Lola exercised the sass she'd worked up over years of practice. "I was kind of busy having a life without you in it." She knew in any normal situation she'd never be able to get away with speaking to a parent like this, but luckily she'd earned the right after being forced to figure out everything in her teen years on her own.

"Well, I saw it. And you're coming to live with me. I don't care what your father says. That video is clear evidence of _negligencia_."

Whenever the Pacinis broke out their Spanish, it was serious. Both of her parents switched to Spanish whenever the subject was serious enough that they couldn't even manage to think of the English translation.

"I wasn't neglected." Lola responded defensively. "And I'm not talking about this with you between classes." She paused. "Or at all. I want to live with Dad. You lost your chance to parent me when you ghosted on me." She pressed end call, and a rush of adrenaline and anxiety coursed through her veins. She knew this was far from over. When Nadia Pacini wanted something, she didn't stop until the horse was beaten to death. Her fingers shakily went to the number that had called her over a dozen times now and entered it into her phone under 'DO NOT ANSWER'. That should do the trick.

* * *

 **Esme** and Miles had just reached the coincidentally empty Hollingsworth house when Miles collapsed. He'd been a mess in the car, crying about the internship and Tristan and everything else that had gone wrong in his life, and apparently he'd worn himself out.

Esme wandered the house cautiously. She'd never really gotten to explore the Hollingsworth mansion. When she and Miles were messing around, she wasn't exactly looking for a house tour. All she really cared about was his bedroom. And when she'd come for the truth or dare party with Zig, they mostly chilled in the living room. But now that she had a chance to look around while Miles was unconscious on the couch she'd managed to drag him to, she had a few minutes of solitude to appreciate the privileged life the Hollingsworths lived.

"I'd kill for a house like this." Esme said to nobody in particular as she admired the decor in the common rooms.

"Well, don't kill me for it. I don't have the deed." A squeaky voice spoke in response. Esme turned around suddenly to see Miles's little sister, Frankie, who apparently had decided to leave school early too.

Esme was rendered speechless for only a few seconds before coming up with a response. "Don't worry. You're safe. For now."

Frankie grinned, and Esme thought for a second. The only things she really knew about Frankie was that she was dating Jonah and now she wasn't anymore. Frankie seemed pretty uncomplicated, unlike her brothers.

"What are you home for?" Esme questioned, placing herself on a chestnut brown chair.

Frankie looked at Esme curiously and cautiously before answering. "Couldn't take seeing my ex with the girl I was insecure about basically inches from each other's faces. Why are you here... At my house? In the middle of the day...?" At first, it seemed Frankie hadn't even noticed the peculiarity of a random girl she barely knew being in her empty house. But she was catching up.

"Your brother relapsed on his boyfriend's pain meds. I had to be the one to escort him back to his palace."

Concern played across Frankie's features. "He relapsed?" She responded. Esme wished someone cared about her half as much as Frankie seemed to care about Miles in that one statement. "Is he okay? Should I call my mom?"

"He should be able to sleep it off by tomorrow. He got pretty screwed up, though. But I'd say this little experiment should scare him off from popping any more of coma boy's pills." Esme responded. "Trust me, I'm an expert."

Frankie clearly wasn't comforted by Esme, but an interesting emotion was carved into her face. Something Esme hadn't quite seen. Desperation mixed with concern, mixed with...friendliness? Esme was perplexed, honestly. Because if anyone else from Degrassi saw Easy Esme in their house next to their passed out sibling, they'd probably assume the worst. As everyone always did with Esme.

"I know this is weird, but do you maybe want to hang out? Since you're here." Frankie said, which caught Esme by surprise. But passing up a free friend, especially one who didn't seem half bad, when her life was such a mess... It wasn't on Esme's radar. There was nothing wrong with Frankie as far as Esme knew, so she accepted. Maybe this could be the start of a blooming friendship. Who would've guessed that dragging a druggie back to his mansion would result in Esme Song acquiring a new acquaintance. Friendship status pending, of course, depending on how cool Frankie proved herself to be.


	3. S4E3: Ghosted

Hi, so this is an alternative Degrassi Next Class Season 4 I have written, pre-release of the actual season 4! Think of each separated part as a scene! Each chapter will be an episode.

 **SEASON 4, EPISODE 3:** #Ghosted || Synopsis: Tiny turns 18 and decides to visit his mom in his old neighborhood, but quickly finds that crucial information about his family has not been passed along. Grace catches Zoe doing something and wonders it it's normal.

* * *

 **Tiny** scrunched his eyes shut as he blew out the candle that had been placed on top of a grocery store cupcake by his mentor. He appreciated the gesture. It was more than anyone had ever done for his past seventeen birthdays.

"Thanks, Phil." Tiny said. He wanted to say more. He wanted to thank his mentor so deeply for everything he'd ever done. He wanted to go on and on about how much he appreciated Phil taking him in and taking care of her after Vince went to jail. But that wasn't the style of kids in group homes and their mentors. It'd result in nothing less than a super awkward silence followed by a pat on the back and a "You're welcome, dude". It wasn't considered too masculine or macho, apparently, to be grateful. And that was fine. Phil had to know how Tiny felt at this point. Even if it was left unspoken.

"So, what's the plan for today? Want me to take you out for lunch or something? I figured I could call into Degrassi and get you the day off. After all, it is your 18th birthday."

Any other kid would probably leap for joy at the opportunity to take the day off of school and just chill, but Tiny just couldn't. He didn't want to mess up his opportunity at valedictorian by missing a test or having to turn in a late assignment. It was rumored he was up against Zoe, and if he knew anything about the way the world worked, he was going to have to work three times as hard to get what a girl like Zoe would just be handed otherwise.

"I can't today. Got a big history quiz today." Tiny replied, taking a bite of the chocolate cupcake Phil had served for breakfast. "But we can go out this weekend to celebrate, if the offer is still good."

Phil nodded, and Tiny was grateful that he had someone who understood his goals. If it were anyone else in his family, or any of the other group home leaders he's heard of, they'd probably smack him and call him ungrateful for passing up an offer like that. Phil had been supportive in Tiny's intellectual goals from day one. He wasn't sure who wanted Tiny to succeed more, but they were definitely both passionate about seeing Tiny have a better future than the rest of his family.

Finishing the cupcake in only a few bites in normal teenage boy style, Tiny slung his backpack onto his back. "Thanks again." He said, before heading to the bus stop.

* * *

 **Zoe** rubbed her eyes and yawned before sitting up to observe her surroundings. She'd fallen asleep in Grace's bed once again. Usually she crashed on the couch or on a palette in Grace's floor, but this time she'd fallen asleep watching a movie with Grace in bed. She was thankful that she had such a good friend who took her in after her mother kicked her out, but sometimes she wished she'd gotten a bedroom of her own, or at least a bed to call her own.

Her phone dinged. An oomfchat from Rasha.

The two girls had made it a bit of a habit to send photos whenever they first woke up. Sometimes the photos were simply adorable, like Rasha in bed with her curly hair a pure mess. And sometimes, Rasha happened to send a photo or two when she was preparing for her morning shower. This morning, it happened to be the latter. A slew of sexy photos of Rasha were flashing across Zoe's screen.

Zoe's heart went into overdrive. She needed to get somewhere private to respond. Now. Sure, Grace was asleep next to her and didn't tend to wake up, but it still felt weird to pull up her shirt and send something sexy to her girlfriend when her best friend was sleeping inches away. Quickly, she gathered herself and sneaked out of bed, being sure not to wake Grace in the process. It was only six in the morning, so she figured she had the house to herself. She walked quietly to the bathroom with purpose, hoping to respond to Rasha with a few pre-shower pics of her own, but when she reached the bathroom door, it was locked. She knocked quietly, and Grace's mother called out. "Showering!"

That was another disadvantage to living in a house that only had one bathroom. She'd grown so used to the life that she had with her mom and her rich beau. She crept back to Grace's room, defeated. Rasha continued to send photos, which continued to leave Zoe speechless.

Finally, she decided to take a risk. Hide from Grace by sitting on the floor. That way she wasn't inches from her best friend, but she still got to partake in the sexy back and forth. Once again, she checked to make sure Grace was really asleep before removing her shirt and revealing a grey lacy bra. Snap. One photo taken and sent Rasha's way.

Rave reviews. Rasha sent a video confirming how much she liked Zoe's photo, and it took Zoe by surprise. Although they sent racy photos back and forth every once in a while, they were usually pretty tame. Everything sort of stayed covered for the most part. But this video that Rasha had sent held nothing back. She'd received videos of guys doing what Rasha was doing, but receiving it from a girl was different. Way different. When a guy sent sexy photos or videos, it basically just felt like they were sending it in order to receive something in return. Like a little poke saying 'hey, now it's your turn!' but Rasha actually turned Zoe on.

She looked around, wondering how long Mrs. Cardinal's shower was going to take. She didn't know if she could wait that long, though. Mrs. Cardinal took infamously long showers.

Another video came in and Zoe couldn't help herself. Her shorts slipped off and she took a video. It actually felt really good to pleasure herself to Rasha. Usually when she sent videos like that, she was totally faking it. But this time around, she was losing herself in the fun. In the pleasure of it all.

But everything came crashing down when...literally, everything came crashing down. Grace's phone fell off of her bedside table and smashed into the floor. She'd been caught.

* * *

 **Grace** heard soft moans. They weren't anything that'd wake her up if her internal alarm clock hadn't woken her up already, but now that she was awake, she was paralyzed. Zoe was totally masturbating. She listened for a bit, recognizing the moans from the time she and Zoe...hooked up. She reached silently for her phone to check the time and wondered whether she should stay asleep. Zoe couldn't take too long to...finish up...could she? Grace had never touched herself like that, but from what she'd heard, it wasn't a big ordeal. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes more.

Her hand reached toward her bedside table, hoping that her grasp would capture her phone in one try. Hoping that Zoe wouldn't hear the bed creak or something. The last thing Grace wanted was to embarrass Zoe, of course. But she couldn't help but question the lack of discretion. Was Zoe trying to get caught? Of course not. She had Rasha now.

Her fingers gripped her phone, but when she went to pick up her phone it slipped from her grip and landed on the floor. Loudly. Crap. There was no way she was going to get out of this now.

"Good morning." She said, trying to break the ice without mentioning the elephant in the room. She looked down at her phone as Zoe slipped her shirt and shorts back on. "Uh, how'd you sleep?"

Zoe paused, before looking at Grace and pursing her lips, then letting out a laugh. "Okay, let's just... get it out of the way. I was... you know... in the middle of a sexy oomfchat sesh with my girlfriend. Guilty."

Grace was perplexed. She never had a close friend after middle school other than Maya, so she hadn't really experienced anyone being actually comfortable with their sexuality. Sure, Maya wasn't a saint, but she surely wasn't the type to admitting to getting herself off. She was at a loss on how to react to something like this. Zoe seemed cool about it, like she'd been caught watching an embarrassing chick flick or something.

"It was bound to happen at some point, right? I mean, emotions are high... we're teenage girls with hormones, right?" Zoe added.

"Yeah... I guess so." Grace responded, still unsure.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Her mother opened the door in a towel. Apparently it was just 'be open with your body' day at the Cardinal house. "I'm making pancakes. Get ready, girls." She said, shutting the door promptly.

Zoe got up from the floor and adjusted her shorts. "I'm gonna shower." She said, and Grace simply nodded, waving and slumping into her bed once Zoe shut the door behind her.

Was this really so normal? Was Zoe right to be nonchalant, or was she trying to play it off to avoid the awkwardness? Grace hadn't had any 6:30am hankerings to stick her hands down her pants before, but maybe she was just abnormal.

* * *

 **Tiny** stood on the bus, holding his phone in his hand. Usually, his mom sobered up enough around his birthday to give a half-hearted call or send a card, but so far, radio silence. It was hard not living with his mom, and having Vince out of his life. It had just been those three for years after his dad went to prison, and then slowly but surely, it became just Tiny. And as glad as he was to have so many friends by his side, it just wasn't the same as family.

His stop arrived and he stepped off, ready to get on with his day and spend after-school hanging out with Shay. She'd planned some super awesome birthday date surprise that she refused to divulge information about, and Tiny was dying to know what she was going to do.

He spotted Shay from afar. She was busy talking to Lola, who was seemingly ranting about something with intensity, and didn't notice that he'd arrived yet. Before he had the chance to walk over and greet his girlfriend, his phone began to ring. The number was unfamiliar, and on any normal day, he'd just ignore it, but there was a chance this could be his mom. He hadn't talked to her since his last birthday, so it was completely possible that her phone number had changed.

"Hello?" He said, an ounce of desperation in his voice.

"T?" A voice he recognized. Vince.

He was surprised Vince wanted to talk to him. For all Vince knew, Tiny was a part of the plot that landed him in jail. Sure, it was Zig's fault, but they hadn't gotten to talk since the arrest after the school play.

"Vince?" Tiny replied.

"Hey T." Vince said, not sounding mad at all. Maybe fences were mended after all. "Happy 18th birthday." He paused. "I only have a few minutes to talk, but I wanted to tell you... Happy Birthday, man. I'm proud of you for staying in school, and doing your science thing. You made it, man. I'm sorry I abandoned you, same as Pops... And about Mom... But you're gonna be the success of this family. And I'm gonna be out before you know it. It'll be just the two brothers once again."

Tiny could hear a smile in Vince's voice. He was truly proud. For a second, every bit of their family drama, the gang stuff that he'd been through, it all felt like it could just melt away. But then he replayed the message in his head.

"Mom?" He questioned.

"I know it's only been a few weeks, but I'm really proud of you for not fallin' apart. I've been keeping in touch with Phil and he said you're making it through. Stronger than me, man. I've been a mess."

Tiny felt his body go numb. What the hell had happened to their mother? And why hadn't he been informed? If Phil knew, then it was something important that he should know as well.

"Anyway, I have a pretty strict phone time limit, and I've pretty much killed it. Talk to you some other time, bro. Happy 18th again."

Then the call ended. Tiny's body was still numb, and now stiff with panic and anxiety. Something bad had happened, and he could feel it in his bones. And it was being hidden from him. Why? He'd thought this would be the best birthday ever, but now he wasn't even sure if he could walk.

* * *

 **Rasha** tapped her pencil on her desk. She hadn't heard from Zoe since she disappeared in the middle of their morning oomfchat session. They usually didn't see one another in the morning until second period, which was the math class they shared.

But luckily, she had a class with Zoe's roomie. The closest thing she could get.

"Grace!" She called out as the blue-haired girl entered the room with her eyes glued to the floor tiles. There was something about Grace's body language, however, that was different. She seemed closed off. Rasha wouldn't call herself a body language expert or anything, but she figured she was pretty perceptive compared to most sixteen year olds.

Usually, Grace would sit between Rasha and Winston, but this time she took a seat at the near-empty front of the class. Winston trailed in behind her, taking his seat next to Rasha. "What's Grace's deal?" He asked, confirming Rasha's suspicions that something was off. "I tried to talk to her in the hallway but she was completely spaced out, and then when she realized I was there she said she had to get to class."

"I don't know." Rasha responded, pulling her phone out of the pocket of her army green hoodie and opening her text conversation with Zoe. She hadn't responded to the four texts that Rasha had sent since their oomfchat conversation abruptly ended. She hated feeling clingy, but she couldn't help but feel concerned.

Winston leaned over and looked at Rasha's phone screen. "Zoe would know. Those two have been in sync ever since that whole summer school thing."

Rasha furrowed her brows. "What summer school thing?" She asked. Zoe hadn't really disclosed how she met Grace. Rasha had just simply assumed the two best friends were always close.

"Zoe didn't tell you?" Winston asked, his speech getting interrupted by the bell ringing and the math teacher entering the room in a huff. "Well," He shrugged. "It's not a big deal. And it's also not my story to tell. You're gonna have to ask her yourself when you see her." He said. Rasha went to open her mouth to respond, but the teacher interrupted her by announcing a pop quiz. Apparently her curiosity would have to wait. A summer school thing couldn't be anything substantial, right?

* * *

 **Zoe** 's first period was taken over by Mr. Simpson, who wanted to go over how to sensitively announce that every student was required to meet with the new school therapist at least once over the next semester. Words were thrown around such as 'free session', but everything came across too much like they thought the school was full of nut jobs.

Personally, Zoe felt it should be a choice whether or not students wanted to have their brains shrunk. But apparently, it wasn't her choice to make, despite being school president and all.

"Let's go over it one more time." Mr. Simpson said, checking his watch and noting that there was only a few minutes left before the bell was going to ring.

Zoe sighed. "Alright." She held up the note cards that the two had crafted over the past hour and a half.

"Hello students of Degrassi. It's me, your president Zoe Rivas." She paused. "That sounds so stale. Can we just leave the intro blank and I can wing it?" She asked, but Simpson shook his head, so she continued. "I'm excited to announce an opportunity for all. Next week, we will begin to schedule everyone's meetings with our new school therapist. This will give you an opportunity to have a free session with a professional who can help you with any issue you may want to talk through. Whether it's a family fight or a lover's quarrel, Mrs. Halliwell can help you make it through any issues you may have. Keep your eyes peeled for the sign up sheet on the bulletin board outside of the Caf!"

Simpson gave Zoe a thumbs up, and although she still felt unsure, she went along with it, giving him a thumbs up back. If this was the approach they wanted to take for mental health, who was she to say it was wrong? She spent months struggling with self harm due to not understanding or accepting her sexuality. Maybe a therapist could've prevented it.

* * *

 **Tiny** spent the majority of his first period in the clouds. And he wasn't daydreaming. Something was wrong with his mom. Something was being kept from him. And he couldn't focus on anything until he figured it out.

When Shay greeted him, he should've won an Oscar for the performance he put on. As far as Shay knew, nothing was wrong at all. It was a normal birthday with her normal boyfriend. But Tiny felt the opposite was true. His entire life felt like it'd be flipped upside down with just a phone call. He needed to know what Vince was talking about before he could turn his brain off and just enjoy his special day.

So he did something he never thought he would, and he walked straight out of school. Sure, he'd skipped before, but that was before he committed to being the best student he could be.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, ordering an Uber to an address he hadn't been to in over a year. His mom's house.

The Uber ride took about fifteen minutes, and every few minutes or so a new tragic, horrifying idea popped into his head. Did his house burn down? Was his mother brain dead after an overdose? Had his father been released from prison and returned to abusing his mother? The thoughts were killing him from the inside out. All he knew was that something bad had happened, and Phil had kept it from him.

He stepped out of his Uber and was relieved when he saw the house was still standing. In fact, it looked better than ever. When he was living there, his mom was usually too drugged out to take care of the house, so it ended up looking pretty messy from the outside. But not now. The grass was mowed, there were flowers blooming, and honestly, it sort of looked like the best house on the block.

Tiny took a deep breath before heading toward the front door, preparing himself to be as ready as he could be for whatever horrible fate faced him on the other side. His shaky knuckles knocked against the door, which he'd just noticed was painted a deep mahogany red. Whatever had been the issue, it shouldn't be so bad considering how well his mother was taking care of the house. Maybe she'd finally gone to rehab and gotten better. Although, that didn't really make sense taking Vince's statement into account. It didn't matter. Because now he was just seconds away from finding out the truth.

A white woman with flowing red hair answered the door. She looked perplexed, and called out for someone to join her at the door. Tiny didn't quite catch the name. The other woman who arrived at the door, however, was someone he recognized. His cousin Stevie.

"Hey, T!" She said, pulling him in for a hug. "I wasn't expecting you. This is my wife Carly. Carly, Tiny. Tiny, Carly." She introduced the two, and Tiny gave the white woman, Carly, a polite smile. "I'm guessing you're here to pick up the last of your stuff?" She said, pulling the door open in order to let him in.

He stepped into his childhood home. It felt wrong. Everything was changed. Before, it was a dingy, grey place. And now it was like something out of HGTV.

He eyed Stevie. The last time he'd seen her, she was a mess. Kicked out of her family's house for being gay at fifteen, stripping at a crappy joint downtown... But now, she looked like a success story. Her braided hair was pulled into a tight, neat bun, she had traded in the hoodies and tight jeans she always wore for a green dress that hugged her body the way dresses were supposed to... She had completely reformed. And a glimmer of hope shone before Tiny's eyes. He could be the next one in the family to live a life like this.

But then he remembered why he was here. To see his mother. And Stevie and Carly didn't exactly look like they were just house guests. There were photos of the two covering the walls, and no evidence of his mother around.

"Do you guys...live here now?" He questioned cautiously. He wasn't sure what the hell was going on, but he didn't know how to react. He knew he should be happy for his cousin, but the feeling of impending doom was creeping up on him again. If his mom didn't live here anymore, where did she live? And why would she just give her house away to a niece she didn't even like that much?

"Yeah, your mom asked me to take care of the place when she went to the hospital a couple months back. And then it became a bit of a more permanent gig once she moved into that assisted living place. I'm surprised she didn't tell you I was taking care of the place. I figured you and Vince would move back in the minute y'all heard the place was empty and turn it into some sort of party pad."

The numb feeling returned to Tiny's body. His mother was living in an assisted living place and Phil had neglected to mention it? There was no excuse for taking away his opportunity to take care of his apparently ailing mother. There was no excuse for him to not divulge crucial information like that.

"Where's the assisted living place?" Tiny asked, desperation dripping from his voice. "I need to go there."

Stevie looked absolutely mystified. "Why? We already cleaned everything out for her."

The numbness turned into a searing pain in his chest, spreading throughout his whole body. "What do you mean." He said, his voice flat and angry. If what he was imagining happened actually happened, he was going to lose his mind.

"The place had a policy where you had to clean out everything after vacating within a month, so Carls and I knocked it out in a few days. We could've used your strong arms, actually."

Vacating. As in, leaving. As in, not there anymore. Which meant... If she wasn't at home, or the hospital, or an assisted living place...

"My mom is dead." The words left his mouth tasting like cold, hard metal.

"I thought you knew."


	4. S4E4: Cancelled

Hi, so this is an alternative Degrassi Next Class Season 4 I have written, pre-release of the actual season 4! Think of each separated part as a scene! Each chapter will be an episode

 **SEASON 4, EPISODE 4:** #Cancelled || Synopsis: Zig seeks therapy and makes breakthroughs about Maya. Rasha discovers more about Zoe's past. Esme violates another person's privacy in an attempt to find companionship.

* * *

 **Rasha** gazed at Zoe from across the cafeteria. She still hadn't gotten an answer from either her or Grace about whatever 'summer school' situation existed, and now she was becoming too nervous to ask. She hadn't even talked to Zoe all day. Usually they caught up with one another between classes or in the classes they shared, but apparently Zoe was working on something big with Principal Simpson and had a pass to miss class. Downside of dating the most powerful girl in school, apparently. Zoe looked powerful. Super powerful. She was in the middle of another round of interviews for her replacement president, and had her best game face on.

There were so many things on Rasha's mind. Now, first and foremost, the summer school thing between Grace and Zoe that apparently made them close as can be... But she also wanted Zoe to finally open her eyes and realize that she wanted to be school president next year. She'd only been at Degrassi for less than a year, but her proximity to the entire student counsel fast tracked her education and social status. She was slightly insulted that Zoe had completely written her off, but she had to have hope that Zoe would open her eyes soon.

Rasha felt a finger tapping on her shoulder. Goldi and Winston had appeared behind her. "Still wanna sit at our table even though Madame President is occupied?" Winston asked, and Rasha nodded.

"Of course." She said, doing her best to snap out of her trance, or at least pretend to, and following her friends to their table.

* * *

 **Zig** roamed the halls feeling aimless. He'd asked for a hall pass and disappeared over 20 minutes ago, but he just couldn't will himself to go back to class. Saad had recently been transferred in, and skulked in the back row as if he was waiting to pounce. It wasn't like Zig was able to pay attention anyway. His mind was on other things. How to deal with Esme, how to deal with his family, if he'd hear back from his university applications... And of course, Maya Matlin.

He didn't want to think about Maya. Not in the state they were in right now. They'd been through rough patches before, but this one was leaps and bounds above anything they'd ever gone through in the past. Maya had almost died. That was something that was hard to get past. And he didn't even know how he could. Or if he could. The sight of Maya passed out on the roof of the school was seared into his brain, after all. And every time the two passed in the hall the image flashed in his head.

"You okay?" An unfamiliar female voice called out to Zig. He was literally the only one not in class, so he knew the woman was talking to him. Whoever she was.

"Um, yeah." Zig said, coming back into full consciousness and realizing that he had tears streaming down his face. He had started crying thinking about Maya again. At this point it almost felt like a reflex. Maya equaled tears rolling down his cheeks. He needed help.

The woman reached her manicured hand out to shake Zig's. "I'm Mrs. Halliwell. The school therapist. If you want, I can get you out of the rest of this period and we can have a chat in my office. You look like you could make good use of a soft chair and a listening ear."

She just had one of those faces you could trust. She was older, but not too old. Maybe late thirties. Her hair was naturally curly, with tight ringlets pushed back on her head by a black cloth headband. She was pretty. Prettier than Zig had pictured any therapist to be. And she definitely had that therapist voice. The one you heard in movies. Calming and soft.

"I guess I could." Zig responded. The idea of getting out of seeing Saad and trying to focus on a class he was probably going to fail sounded absolutely ideal right now.

* * *

 **Esme** checked her phone for the fifth time in the past minute. Miles had gone radio silence since she brought him home after his drug relapse, and Frankie hadn't gotten back to her either. The Hollingsworths were apparently horrible at communication. She'd seen Miles in the hallway tending to Tristan's needs, and Frankie was joint at the hip with Shay. Typical.

She shifted her weight on the toilet seat. Sure, skipping class to sit in the bathroom and check her phone obsessively wasn't the best decision this early in the semester, but she was skipping math. She figured she could miss the review on polynomials and it wouldn't be a dire situation. Plus, every once in a while when she was camped out in the bathroom she heard some dirt. Stuff she could use as leverage against others. The possibility of hearing top gossip was worth running the risk some random noticing her shoes and thinking she had IBS or something.

She checked her phone once more. Still nada. She felt like a goddamn idiot, putting her eggs in any Hollingsworth basket again. Losing Miles was so hard for her. It took months for her to get over him, and then he threw every minute of their relationship - every secret - in her face in the middle of class when he declared everyone left her. Which was true, but it didn't need to be public information.

"Mom, I'm not talking about the stupid video anymore!" A familiar voice entered the bathroom in a huff. Lola Pacini. And the video had to be her iconic, impressive declaration of her abortion last semester. Esme was honestly proud of the little pipsqueak. Of course, Lola got away with it because she was a cute little blue-haired innocent girl. If a girl like _Esme_ were to announce to the entire world that she didn't wanna be pregnant anymore... It'd be over. Social suicide. And that was why she'd kept the abortion she'd had after a drunken night with Zig a few months back to herself.

Esme pulled her feet up in order to collect the most data possible. Some people checked under the stalls before divulging top secret info, and although Lola didn't seem like the brightest lightbulb, might as well. After all, nobody knew who Lola's baby daddy was. This would be primo. "It doesn't matter _whose_ it was. I'm not dating anyone. I'm not having sex with anyone. It was a one time mistake with...a guy." Come on, Lola. Spill. There was a long silence. Apparently, little Lola's mom was giving her a piece of her mind.

Esme could've sworn she'd heard somewhere that Lola had major issues because of her mom leaving, so although she was still interested in knowing the gossip, she felt for the girl a little bit. Growing up without a mom was tough as hell. It was almost better that her own mother had no chance of returning, as messed up as the thought of it was.

"It was just one of my friend's brothers." Lola said. "He was going through a hard time and we hooked up. It was my first time, and it was a dumb mistake. I don't see why this is any of your business."

Holy. Crap. Miles Hollingsworth was Lola's baby daddy. Esme knew it. She totally _knew_ the two of them hooked up, but Miles kept swearing it didn't happen. Her instincts were always right. Always.

An idea lit up Esme's brain, one so bright and obnoxious she couldn't ignore. She knew how she was going to hook those Hollingsworths in. She unlocked her phone and started a text to Frankie, stating that the two had to talk. It was urgent.

* * *

 **Rasha** finally caught Zoe and brought her in for a kiss. "There you are." She said. "I was starting to think I'd never get a chance to talk to you."

"I'm here." Zoe responded absentmindedly.

"It seems like you're really caught up in all of this president stuff... I thought we agreed we weren't gonna stress over all of these interviews and everything." Rasha said, her voice shaking a little. The last thing she wanted was to start a fight, and although she knew Zoe felt the same, it just seemed risky to poke the bear when Zoe was already so stressed. All she wanted to do was grab Zoe by the shoulders, kiss her hard, and tell her that she wanted to be the president next year. But of course, her slightly timid nature and the fact that her relationship with Zoe was still new kept that urge at bay.

Zoe sighed in response. "I know that's what I promised... I just can't get this off my mind. I want to find a president. There's so much to do, and I just can't leave it up to a gamble."

"What if... the answer was right in front of you?" Rasha went ahead and put the idea out there, shutting her eyes tight in preparation for the possible rejection. The idea of Zoe telling her she wasn't good enough for the job made her heart ache in advance.

She opened her eyes after a few seconds of no response, and when her eyes opened, there was a smiling Zoe. "You're a genius. _Why_ didn't I think of that? Why were you sitting on that idea?!"

Rasha's heart swelled. All it took was asking, and she got what she wanted. It was all about confidence. Something she was learning quickly with Zoe as a model.

* * *

 **Zig** sighed. "So it all started in grade 9."

"Maya?" Mrs. Halliwell asked, more confirming than actually asking. Zig had already prefaced a lot of the information, but she'd asked for him to go as in depth as possible, which was what he was attempting now.

He nodded. "I met her on the first day. She was the first girl I met, actually. At Degrassi, I mean. Not...ever." He shook his head, feeling like he was stating the obvious. "She helped me get back together with my ex, Tori. But there was something there from day one. Minute one. The way she looked at me... She was so innocent, and her smile was so big. And I didn't deserve her. Or Tori, if I'm being honest. I was... a real piece of crap in grade 9. So insecure in what other people thought, so worried about people finding out that I was poor." He said.

"But I didn't jump on it. I crushed on her from afar while I was dating Tori, and eventually... it wasn't enough. She started dating this guy, and I could just feel the jealousy bubbling up and making me want to explode every time I was near either of them. And I had to pretend to be happy. Tori was so happy for them. I think it's because she knew how I felt about Maya. She'd be blind not to see it."

Mrs. Halliwell held her hand up, as to ask Zig to pause. "And who is this guy? Does he still go to Degrassi?"

It felt a little personal, honestly, for her to ask. And he didn't quite get why she'd think it was relevant. Of course, if she only knew how prevalent Cam was, and how important he truly was in the Zig and Maya saga... She was right to ask. She just had no idea.

"Not anymore. He died." He stopped for a moment to collect himself and hold back tears. This was something he had held back from talking about to the best of his ability. And he'd done pretty well, since he couldn't remember the last time he'd said Cam's name. "He killed himself."

Mrs. Halliwell's cool as a cucumber face twisted into sudden shock. "Suicide." She said. "Continue."

"I was so into Maya, and eventually... I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't take watching the two of them kissing and being so...happy." He furrowed his brows, his brain suddenly reliving every second of watching Campbell and Maya kiss. Every smile that wasn't because of him. Every time she pushed him away. "I thought Maya would be happier if she was with me. So I basically bullied them out of a relationship. I seduced Maya, I attacked Cam... All while dating Tori. I really screwed it up with Tori. And I never really apologized."

Mrs. Halliwell opened her mouth, likely to ask if Tori was still attending Degrassi, and if apologizing was a possibility. "It's not possible. She moved away, and she blocked me on everything. I checked." He bit his lower lip, trying not to break down. "I guess I _kinda_ deserved that. She was too good for me, and I screwed it up."

"I thought it was the right thing to do. I know now it wasn't, but hindsight and all, right? Cam was so messed up, and I was a stupid fifteen year old who thought I knew everything. I thought I was saving Maya, when really... I was the one who screwed everything up. Everything went so fast, it makes my head spin even now. And then all of a sudden, I was so angry. I risked everything, even Tori, for a girl who wouldn't give up on Campbell. I was so hard on Cam, when nothing was his fault... And then he was just gone. Erased from the earth. Wiped from existence. Dead, hanging in the greenhouse. How messed up is that?"

* * *

 **Esme** hadn't received a text back from Frankie or Miles yet, so it was time to take matters into her own hands. If they weren't going to text back, she was going to find one of them, whichever one of them she saw first, and make it happen. Whatever it takes, right?

She stomped through the halls, scanning the faces of her fellow students for a Hollingsworth. First, she spotted Hunter. Not the Hollingsworth she was looking for, and honestly, not a Hollingsworth she ever wanted to talk to. Misogynistic gamer geek? No thanks. She had to pass.

Next, she noticed Lola. Also not a Hollingsworth, but she couldn't resist the urge to tease Lola a little bit. She wasn't going to show her cards, of course, she had a long game in mind. But a little provocation couldn't hurt.

"Hi, Lo. Can I call you Lo?" She started. "How's the post-baby bod? You look _fantastic_. Good thing. Some people are a damn mess after an abortion, but not you. You're a little ray of sunshine. As always." Esme put on a fake grin. Mind games were her favorite. And Degrassians were always so easy.

"I'm sorry?" Lola put on her sassiest tone. Esme liked how much of a firecracker Lola was. It almost made her want to befriend little girl blue. _Almost_. But it'd never work. She was far too much drama, and far too high up her own ass for Esme's tastes. Esme tended to prefer a friend who was more...susceptible to change. Open to suggestion. Submissive, even. That was part of the reason she had her eyes set on Frankie Hollingsworth.

Before Lola could start in on insulting Esme on whatever petty flaws she was about to point out, Frankie approached. "Hey, Esme. Hey Lola." She addressed the two of them, and Esme painted a smile on her features. "What are we talking about?"

Esme looked to Lola, shooting her daggers with her eyes. "I was just talking to _Lolabear_ here about the wonders of birth control. Nothing too exciting. I've been texting you, Franks. Did you check your phone?"

Frankie responded innocently, not even noticing the strife between the two girls in front of her. This girl really was innocent. And a little dumb. "Nah, I got it taken away during gym. Armstrong can be such a dictator about phones. Fifth warning means I don't get my phone back until the end of the day. First world problems, I know. Sorry if you thought I was ignoring you! I had a lot of fun with you the other day when..." Frankie paused. She was so considerate to not expose her brother's relapse. "When we ran into one another. We should hang out some time."

Esme was stunned. She was hoping that Frankie would pursue things, but she figured it might've taken more convincing. Turned out, she'd have her new friend sooner than later. Now all she had to do was tell her Lola's dirty little secret, and she'd have Frankie opened up and ready to be molded like clay.

* * *

 **Rasha** climbed onto Zoe's lap in the student council office. "Finally, some time alone with Miss President."

"And a moment alone with my successor." Zoe said, leaning in and placing a kiss gently on Rasha's lips. "Finally. I can't wait to show you the ins and outs of Degrassi. You'd be surprised what secrets lie in these hallowed halls."

"Spooky." Rasha teased, bringing her finger to tap Zoe's button nose. "And what kind of secrets would those be?" She asked boldly, hoping that Zoe would reveal whatever happened between her and Grace, and maybe whatever other secrets she held. All Rasha knew about Zoe's past is that a lot of people didn't like her, and now they did. She was curious when this change occurred, and how. She wanted to know more about the girl she was falling for.

Zoe seemed to tense up at the mention of her own secrets, which didn't exactly strike Rasha with a warm and cozy comforting feeling. If her girlfriend was hiding something big, she felt like she needed to know. The last thing she needed in her life was more drama and more secrets. She'd just escaped tragedy in Syria, and although high school drama paled in comparison, she was still sick of feeling bad.

"I'm kidding." Rasha said, suddenly losing all of the confidence she felt she'd built up earlier. There was something big Zoe was keeping from her. There had to be. She climbed off of Zoe's lap and walked to the doors of the office, unable to look at Zoe due to her nerves.

Zoe's voice was full of concern. "What's wrong?" She asked, getting up from where she was sitting and placing her hand on her shoulder. "You've been off all day. I know I disappeared this morning during our sexy oomfchat session, but it wasn't intentional, I promise. Your videos were... Very sexy. So sexy in fact that I ended up getting caught enjoying them by Grace." Zoe's face was coated with a natural blush all of a sudden, which was both adorable and slightly unnerving to Rasha.

"Grace caught you?" Rasha was trying to put the puzzle pieces together to the best of her ability. "That must've been why she avoided me all morning. God, that's embarrassing."

For a moment, she felt like everything was solved. Grace found out about Zoe and Rasha sending sexy photos back and forth. That must've been why both girls were acting a bit off that morning. But then... what Winston said popped into her head. About summer school. And Grace. And Zoe. And Rasha couldn't resist herself. After all, every other topic had gone swimmingly between the two, why would asking a simple question about Grace and Zoe's history hurt anything? How bad could it possibly be?

"And...is there any reason why Grace might feel...more inclined to be awkward about something like that, than, say... Another friend?" Rasha gritted her teeth together. She had to take the more confident route. It seemed to be working today, and maybe that was the relationship Zoe wanted. The person Zoe wanted to be with. The strong, confident version of Rasha.

But it seemed this question was something big to Zoe. Clearly.

"Grace and I..." Zoe started. "She was the first girl I fell for. We were acquaintances, and then we got closer during summer school. I fell for her, I kissed her, I forced her into a relationship, and then I had sex with her crush and filmed it."

Clearly, a few pieces of the story were missing. And the tone in Zoe's voice felt like she'd rather die than continue to tell the story.

Rasha swallowed her pride and curiosity. As much as she wanted to ask a million questions about the parts Zoe left out, and question if she should be jealous... She knew for the sake of Zoe's emotions, she couldn't. There was no way that she could keep asking these questions. It'd be selfish and unfair.

"It's over, right? You don't have feelings for Grace?" She asked, trying to put the least amount of stress on Zoe. Apparently assertive Rasha was fading away, because with every single word, she felt herself feeling less and less confident.

Zoe nodded wordlessly, and Rasha pulled her girlfriend into a tight hug. She wanted to know more about Zoe. Of course she did. But the shaking in Zoe's voice told her that there were a lot of traumatic things in her past. Rasha pretended she didn't see the self harm scars on Zoe's body, but of course she noticed them. There was nothing she could do without prying and forcing Zoe to release her demons. She figured when it was time, it would be time. And that time would come. Eventually.

* * *

 **Zig** slumped in the chair provided in Mrs. Halliwell's office. He now understood why many therapists had couches to lie down on. He'd been talking for what felt like hours - though he knew it couldn't have been more than a half an hour.

"There has been a lot of trauma in your life, Zig. From your family living in a rough neighborhood to the experience of Campbell's death to your experiences with the gang... I understand why you've experienced problems in relationships. And I mean familial, romantic, and platonic relationships, not just Maya." Mrs. Halliwell said. "I think that once you learn to accept the experiences you've had and learn from them... You can really begin to heal. Acceptance and a lot of therapy, of course."

Zig furrowed his brow. He wasn't quite comprehending. If he was picking up what she was putting down, as soon as he learned to accept the crap that happened to him and learn the life lessons or whatever... He could start being normal again. Start having normal friends, mend fences with his family, and maybe even...get back with Maya.

The thought of finally having everything back after the past few years of being so confused and so hurt all the time felt like an unattainable dream. Suddenly being told that it was attainable made life seem bearable for the first time in a long time. Even in this past year when he was with Esme, he felt like he was just filling a gap with anything he could. Drinking every weekend, having sex in weird places with Esme, and just seeking any thrill he could access.

"I'd love to continue to talk, but unfortunately my little hall pass only works for so long. I'd have to see you outside of school or maybe hook you up with a colleague of mine to see outside of school. Your group home should cover the costs." She said. "Most group homes should encourage their kids to go to weekly or bi-weekly therapy. I'm surprised your mentor has never mentioned it."

Zig already felt better. Of course, any emotional state was better than crying in the hallway, so pretty much anything could've made his mood better. But this felt like a breakthrough. A real breakthrough. He felt like he could do almost _anything_ at this point. But his goal? Mending things with Maya. Whatever that meant.

* * *

 **Esme** sat cross-legged on Frankie's bedroom floor. "So, truth or dare?" She asked. It was her default when she wanted to get to know anyone.

"Truth." Frankie said. Of course she did. Esme held back from rolling her eyes. She would reform this girl if it was the last thing she did. It was her newfound mission to have one less clenched up bitch at Degrassi.

"What's one thing you wish you knew?" Esme asked. It was almost going to be too easy to get Frankie right where she wanted her. She knew the next words that would be coming out of Frankie's mouth... Three, two, one...

"I wish I knew who Lola got pregnant by. It's been eating at me. I mean, I know it doesn't really matter, and it's none of my business. But she's one of my best friends. And she got pregnant. She lost her virginity and got pregnant within a matter of weeks and then acted like it was no big deal. I mean, I'd go crazy if all of that happened to me. I still can't get over Jonah after all..."

Esme knew that Frankie liked to ramble, but it was overwhelming. The amount of crap coming out of Frankie's mouth was plain overwhelming. And it almost distracted her from the fact that Frankie played right into her hand. Almost. But she hadn't forgotten the mission she was on. Make Frankie her new best friend. Her new favorite person, as it were. Mold her into the perfect troublemaker. She knew that Zig was slipping away, and if he wanted to slip away... Maybe she'd just move on to someone new.

"What if I told you I knew?" She asked, her tone dripping with manipulation. She couldn't help it. But Frankie was naive enough to fall for it, since her eyes were full of curiosity.

"You know? How? She's my best friend and even I don't know. And she's one of the biggest blabbermouths I know."

Esme started pulling at her braid subconsciously. It was something she did when she was a little bit nervous. She knew this would go well. Frankie was an easy target. But taking a risk like this was always big.

"I overheard her talking to her mom on the phone. I didn't mean to hear, but I heard, and it's just been stuck in my head. It's pretty messed up, actually. I don't know if I feel comfortable sharing such a big secret." Esme said.

Frankie's tone turned into a begging one. It was as if a puppy was transformed into a human being. She was the perfect personification. It was almost too easy. "Please, please tell me. I won't tell a soul."

Esme pretended to consider it for a moment. "Fine. Let's just say you know him very well. _Very_ well." She watched as Frankie squirmed, clearly thinking it over in her head, probably going over the options. And then it was clear that the answer hit her.


End file.
